Destiny Helix
by Feb7
Summary: New sphere hunting groups are growing desperate due to the 'drought', a shortage of treasures spheres, and are causing destruction and riots throughout Spira to find the elusive Jade Spheres. New responsibilities force Yuna, Tidus and Paine to quit the Gullwings, leaving Rikku, as the sole combat party member. Alone in battle, she faces new fiends and meets a new ally named Zell.
1. Chapter 1

_***Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters…***All standard disclaimers apply_

* * *

"**_HEY RIKKU…! RIKKU! CAN YOU HEAR ME? CONTACT THE BRIDGE! NOW! NOT LATER! NOW!"_**

Rikku sighed and turned in her bed, ignoring Brother's voice on the Celsius' intercom system. Slipping the covers over her head, she found a comfortable position, and forced her eyes close.

They had been flying for weeks all over Spira trying to find new spheres; however they had been coming empty handed. The popularity of sphere hunting—being at an all time high—had depleted the numbers treasure spheres found all around Spira, causing what sphere hunters called the "drought".

Even the Leblanc Syndicate changed professions into bounty hunting due to the lack of sphere numbers and excitement. It seemed that even harassing the Gullwings and the other newbie hunters weren't giving Leblanc the thrills and attention she craved for...

"_Goodbye loves! I'm off to the big time! Sphere hunting is old news! But don't worry...If you want to bring new meaning to your miserable lives while you dig for nothing, I can have you work for me! I can have you wipe the dirt off my beautiful shoes! That will be the most work you'll find in sphere hunting! Servicing one of the former hunters!"_

That was the last thing Leblanc said when the Gullwings ran into her in Luca. It had been weeks since Rikku seen her and that's when she realized her life was turning for the worst! She was actually missing Leblanc schemes! …Among other things...

At first, when the 'drought' began to show signs, sphere hunters began to search _harder_. Sphere hunting was their livelihood and they couldn't just step back and do nothing, even if it was inevitable. People, all over Spira, started to become angry when a number of sphere hunters began destroying the lands, homes and temples in their searches for treasures spheres.

Once known to be a profession to help salvage spheres to document the histories—Sphere hunting, became grossly competitive, cut throat and violent. The people of Spira were lashing out on sphere hunters for the destruction that they were causing, and sphere hunters, were fighting crowds and other hunting groups to continue their work.

Spira became a battle ground for spheres and got so ugly that the New Yevon order, the Youth League, and the Machine Faction joined forces to stop the riots and fighting. The Gullwings, aiding in the cause to stop the violence, were only accused by the people of adding to the problems of Spira, because, they too, were sphere hunters, even if Lady Yuna was among them...That's when the disbandment happen.

One year after Vegnagun was destroyed and Tidus was reunited with Yuna...

It was only for a year that Tidus and Yuna were together with the Gullwings, having the time of their lives; traveling and working as sphere hunters. Paine, while a member of Gullwings, made effort to spend time with her former comrades: Nooj, Baralai and Gippal, the three leaders of their respected factions. Brother continued having a blast being the 'leader' of the group _and_ seeing Yuna so happy. He told Rikku and Barkeep, the day Tidus came back, that he was sad for himself but content to see Yuna so blissful. Buddy, the navigator, was calm and resourceful as ever, and young Shinra, was up to his elbows in machina forever fiddling with the Celsius**_'_** internal components and inventing new ways to utilize spheres.

During that time Rikku was happy just seeing everyone else being so happy. And for that _one_ year, everything was perfect, until all the problems happen in the world...

When Yuna decided to leave the Gullwings, she handed in her Garment Grid, keeping only her Gunner and Floral Fallal dresspheres due to Brother's insistence. She and Tidus were on constant trips to Bevelle, Beside, Kilika and Luca, since those areas had the most conflict. Yuna told Rikku that it was her job as High Summoner to help keep the peace and the best way was to work with the Youth League and New Yevon since most of the population of Spira believed and belonged to these two groups.

Paine was asked to be Second-in-Command for the Youth league, by Nooj. He was busier than ever, with all of the New Yevon negotiations. He and Baralai wanted a bridge between these two groups, becoming one—Old religion combined with new ideals. Unfortunately with all his time in Bevelle, he wanted Paine in Mushroom Rock Road to help calm the violence in that area and help utilize the Youth League's strength for the greater good of Spira. Paine also handed in her Garment Grid tablet when she left, only keeping two of her favorite dresspheres. Just like Yuna, Paine wanted the Garment Grids to be left with the Gullwings for new recruits, if any were found. Yuna knew the Gullwings gathered spheres for the histories since Tidus returned, and they had nothing to do with the violence that was erupting all over, so, she planned to use the Gullwings as an example of how sphere hunters should be.

With the girls gone, living their lives, Rikku was left alone to go on missions to gather as much spheres she could. She lost the desire in constantly change with her dresspheres during battle because...Without Yuna and Paine, it didn't seem worth it. With them, it was fun to fight in that fashion, but alone, it seemed like a waste of time.

Combining all attributes of the Alchemist, Knight, and Thief dresspheres and a few skills from the others, Shinra designed a garment capable of numerous abilities; therefore, she didn't have to waste time in changing in a difficult fight—The Helix dressphere. Shinra called it the ultimate sphere for an Al Bhed to use. When Rikku mention of the Machina Maw Shinra explained, that Helix had the ability to control the large machina when needed and advised her on carrying that sphere on her Clover Garment Grid tablet that he made especially for it.

Unfortunately, with there not being any leads for new spheres in the last six months she hadn't had a chance to use it. And as great as it sounded, she didn't want to use it. Rikku lost all desire for the work and stood with the Gullwings for the sake of not abandoning Shinra and Buddy to Brother's insanity. Plus, she knew Paine and Yuna had lives beyond the Gullwings, so their leaving was understandable. Rikku had the Gullwings, that's it. Her leaving would just make people worry about her and she didn't want that.

So now here she was...

... trying to get in some more sleep due to the colored rum drinks she had for the first time last night. It's been a long few months dealing with Brother's Yuna withdrawal and lack of work. Today didn't seem like an exception...Hearing eerie screeching sounds and the great amount of static coming from the intercom above her bed, Rikku covered her ears until she hear a scream...

"**Rikku! Rikku! Hurry up now! It's Brother! Report to the bridge! Now! Now! Now!"**

Whimpering with annoyance, Rikku kicked the sheets off herself and rolled off the bed. Still in her pajamas she grabbed a robe from her closet and ran down the stairs to see Barkeep and Darling, at bar as always, cleaning some glass behind the counter.

"Shorry, Rikku. I contacted the Bridge and told them you were still, sleeping." Barkeep called out to her before she ran out to the elevator.

Fasting her robe closed, she smiled at him "Don't worry, Brother's is in one of his moods today! He'll feel better once he sees Yuna; the problem is we don't know how long that would be."

Darling and Barkeep nodded at one another and kept on cleaning...


	2. Chapter 2

_***Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters…***All standard disclaimers apply_

* * *

It was only a matter of minutes before she made it to the bridge but before she could say something she heard Shinra and Buddy laughing at her from Shinra's workstation.

"What's so funny, guys?" Rikku eyeing them suspiciously.

Brother turned around in his captain's chair, at the sound of his sister's voice, and nearly scream, "What happen to your hair?!"

Quickly, Rikku placed her hands on her head, feeling around. "What do you mean?!"

Shinra retrieved a small mirror from his pocket and tossed it to her, "Check it out."

Unsure what they were talking about, she immediately looked into the mirror and saw probably one of the worst cases of bed hair she had ever seen in her life. The small braids that were styled into her ponytail were sticking up in every direction. The rest of her hair was all knotted in a frizz ball on top of her head—similar to what it looked like when Brother accidentally hit her with a Thunder spell a few years ago.

"Oh, no!" she whispered, "I look like a fiend that's been electrified!" She cried some more when she looked at her hair in all different angles, "Oh no…"

"Shinra? Why do you carry a mirror in your pocket? You're always covered up in that suit?" Buddy asked, tearing his eyes off Rikku's hair.

"Never know when you need one."

Buddy nodded, "Makes sense." His eyes went from Rikku's hair to her robe, "No time to get dress, eh?"

"Not with the way Brother was screaming!" Rikku ran to Brother, and in fit of rage, punched in him so hard in the face that he toppled to the floor before he could make a sound.

"This is all your fault!" Rikku screamed, throwing herself down and started to strangling him, "Because of your screaming I didn't have time to fix my hair and everyone is laughing at me!"

"Ri-kk-u St-op!" He managed to spit out between breaths, but Rikku's grip became tighter. "You have been impossible these last few months! I can't take your screaming, whiny, crying, bossy, badly-dressed-self, anymore!"

* * *

**_B_**oth Brother and Rikku began to wrestle on the floor while Buddy shook his head, shamefully, at them both. He didn't blame Rikku for attacking Brother...Hell, there were a few times that he wanted to throw the 'leader' off the ship, himself. These last few months _have_ been horrible. No work, Brother constantly crying about Yuna leaving the Gullwings ...Then the world turned against sphere hunters due to new clans like the Hisui Ryu that decided to completely level places like Moonflow to the ground in search for 'Special Jade Spheres.'

Needless to say, it wasn't the greatest of times to be a sphere hunter, but Yuna was counting on the Gullwings to set a good example for all sphere hunting groups. _"The Gullwings have to show the epitome of responsible work ethics for the sphere hunting profession. This can remind the people of Spira that not all sphere hunters cause mayhem."_ Those were Yuna's words exactly as he remembered.

Buddy, then, turned his attention to Shinra's monitor that showed a map of Spira with a bright blinking dot of Bikanel Island.

"I think we're all kind of badly dressed here..." Shinra stated simply as he began typing different commands on his keyboard at a thousand words a minute.

"Yeah, but it's more for work purposes, though. These clothes are easy to move around in." Buddy said while feeling his wet-suit tank top, "Plus, we're just use to the style, you know? It's an Al Bhed thing."

"I agree," Shinra nodded after he finished keying in all the commands he wanted, "Being badly dressed _is_ an Al Bhed thing."

"Thus speaks the Al Bhed guy wearing an underwater bag suit." Buddy laughed, hitting Shinra on the back.

"I'm not complaining." Shinra shrugged, then pointed to the map on the screen, "See here? This is what I was talking about. This area is really unstable. If you look at this map, it seems like there is something there."

Crossing his arms, Buddy examined the area on map more closely, somewhat confused; "But we pass by that area all the time and nothing ever came up before."

"I know. It just started to come on our radar in the last ten minutes."

"What's the change? Is it a sphere?"

"I can't say for sure but I don't think we should ignore it. There's something odd going on there..."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Shinra entered a command into his computer again and the screen displayed lines that were vertically sloping up and down and in a very rhythmic, pulsating manner.

"This program displays the energy waves of spheres that are caused by its power source." Shinra explained with his fingers running along the rippled waves on the screen, "These energies vibrations are released, subtly, into the air when sphere is active or working. This is just _one_ of the new methods I use when trying to locate spheres around Spira. I scan for these 'sphere pulses' in various locations. Even if the sphere is in some kind of underground temple or something. As long as air can flow in and out of the place; this energy can be carried along with it."

"Wait a second," Buddy interjected, ignoring Brother's screams in the background; "There are thousands of commonly used spheres in Bevelle alone. Is there a way to differentiate energy vibrations for the treasure spheres _we_ look for? I mean, as opposed to common every day spheres?"

Shinra nodded and changed the screen again to show the wavy pulsing lines changing color; "See here? These blue energy waves are caused by normal, everyday spheres: movie spheres, dresspheres, communication-kind spheres, et cetera... Now, showing you a recording of six months ago when we found a _treasure_ sphere, it showed on this program as 'yellow'. Apparently...older model spheres were made with a different power source. Maybe, because it has something to do with the engineering practices of Zanarkand and Bevelle thousand years ago?—Machina was highly advanced back then...but in any case that's the story-"

"AHHH"

Shinra was cut short due to Brother's falsetto cry, as Rikku grabbed a pair of needle-nose pliers from her usual workstation on the bridge and began to chase Brother with it. Getting completely and utterly annoyed at this point, Buddy whistled at the siblings...

"Hey, cut it out now! This is important Gullwings business!" He then pointed to Shinra's computer screen and raised his voice louder than he wanted, "Come on you two!"

Buddy watched as Rikku punched Brother one more time in the stomach and ran over to him frowning.

"I'm sorry. Brother is just getting on my nerves! I didn't mean to upset you! You never yell like that..." She spoke so quickly and nervously that it took Buddy a while to figure out what she said.

"I know, he's been driving us all nuts!" He placed his hand on Rikku's shoulder. He knew that she was faster at understanding Shinra's logic better than he was. Thinking outside the box was one of Rikku's greatest strengthens and he need her on board with Shinra's new discovery. This could be a big break for the Gullwings, he thought, and hopefully could get us out of this rut we've been in for the last six months...

He smiled at her with understanding and continued talking in his usual calming tone, "I'm sorry for yelling –But, regardless of Brother's hysterics, we need to listen up. Shinra may have found something." Buddy waved over at Brother, "Come on, fearless leader."

Waddling over in pain, Brother inched his way to Shinra's station; swearing in the Al Bhed native tongue... Once everyone gathered around Buddy gave Shinra the thumbs up to continue.

"As I was saying to Buddy, I came across some activity in over in Bikanel. In this area to be exact." Shinra pointed to his computer screen, which now showed Bikanel Island in its entirety. His hands traveled up showing a location of desert that would be about 60 kilometers west of where the Al Bhed base known as HOME use to be.

"What exactly have you found?" Rikku said with her nose practically touching the screen, "I don't see anything. Did the Machine Faction _actually_ gave you a tip?"

"No, the Machine Faction is working on the outskirts of Bikanel these days—nowhere close to this location. As a matter of fact, I don't think Gippal's people have worked in this area yet." Shinra then placed blinking dots on the map showing, via his keyboard, showing the past location where the Machine Faction had been salvaging previously till now, along with the locations the Celsius had scanned for potential hot spots.

Shinra turned to Buddy "I design this program to make sure the Machine Faction hadn't come across a big score spheres, you see? And even if they did, the scanner would picked it up and then we could just quietly steal it from them, you know -instead of just taking it upfront- this way, we can keep our 'epitome of responsible work ethics' intact."

Buddy found himself laughing at his information.

"I had no idea you kept data like this." Buddy shook Shinra's shoulder vigorously and happily patted him on the head "If there are any spheres left on Bikanel, WE want to find them! There is no doubt in my mind that if one of Gippal's people found one, now, they would be auctioning it off to the highest bidder!"

"Technically it was Rikku's idea." Shinra then turn to Rikku, who was now dancing in place beside him, "Isn't that, right?"

Rikku laughed, "That's right! All _my_ idea."

Brother sighed and headed back to his chair with depression washed all over his movements; "And Yuna's not here. My dear, lovey Yuna... If Yuna were here, Gippal would have given any spheres to us."

"True that!" Buddy smiled widely, in agreement, "Gippal has a soft spot for Yuna! And would have gladly given it to the Gullwings to try and win her affections from Tidus."

"Can you stop all the technical talk, Shinra?" Brother said slumping down on his chair and lazily rocking himself back and forth in grief, "What did you find? Why do we have to go to Bikanel? Have your scanners found something?"

Shinra chuckled in a devious way, "In this area, the scanner are showing sphere pulses that are colored in red!"

"Red?" Buddy repeated

Red, _red_?" Rikku glanced around at Shinra and Buddy for reasoning, "What does red mean?"

Brother began sobbing Yuna's name, screaming at the top of his lungs, rocking himself as if he was in pain. The three Gullwings sighed and Buddy whistled at him once again…

"I'm sorry…" Brother sniffed.

"What Shinra means, Rikku, is that he is monitoring sphere energy readings around Spira…Blue pulses are regular spheres – duds, while yellow pulses indicate _old_ treasure spheres." Buddy clarified, "Those are the ones we gather"

Rikku wrinkled her nose a bit, then quickly began to up jump and down; seemingly unable to control her excitement. Her green eyes glittered and she smiled.

"Red could mean an awesome sphere?!"Right?!"

And for the first time, in a while, Buddy felt some kind of relief. They may just have found work, "Maybe better than awesome sphere!" He raised his fist in the air and brought it down, "Yes! About time!"

Jumping up and down, Rikku laughed, "A spectacular sphere!"

"Hold on! I never said it was an awesome-spectacular sphere." Shinra said, crossing his arms and facing the computer in a perplexing way, as if, trying to solve a complex puzzle he had never done before.

Both Buddy and Rikku stared at Shinra as if he had three heads, "What do you mean?" Buddy asked, "What is it then?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I'm just a kid!" Shinra started laughing from under his underwater-styled mask, while Buddy and Rikku sighed in disappointment.

"How could you call a meeting and not know what you're sending us out to find?" Buddy, at that moment, had enough of jokes…This better had be a job. Or else the Gullwings will be done for.

"But in all seriousness" Shinra's voice became extremely low, almost like he was speaking to himself, "I've never seen…I mean, it's coming through as sphere energy, yes…But I've never seen anything like this." Shinra, all of a sudden, leaned back in his chair and shrugged, "But I'll tell you something, if we find—whatever it is— you can be sure, Spira has never seen it before."

Almost as if reading each other's minds, Both Buddy and Rikku smiled at one another.

"It really must be something _unusual_ if Shinra can't figure out what this red sphere energy is. A mysterious sphere in Spira…" Buddy told her.

"Now this sounds promising…" Rikku giggled.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or its characters…***All standard disclaimers apply_

* * *

He sank to the ground and he tasted the mix of blood and dirt on his lips. His body ached—moving was too difficult—three of his ribs were broken and his right arm felt dislocated… His ears were ringing with the sounds of the arena crowd cheering:

"GO! COME ON! SEIFER! SEIFER! SEIRFER! ZELL, COME ON!"

From the corner of his eye, Zell saw Seifer, with his gunblade high in the air, encouraging the crowd, from the middle of the arena. Pure fury raged in Zell's badly beaten body and he closed his eyes with a mixture of hate and shame. A few tears wielded up in his eyes due to the stinging pain from the open wounds on his face that was now covered in the arena grit— a mixture of fine sand, salt, and dirt made the ground they stood on.

With an amused expression, Seifer pointed the tip of his gunblade to Zell and he faced the crowd in the stands, "HEAR ME ALL! SHALL I WRAP THIS MAN IN THE SACRED FLAMES AND IMMERSION HIM WITH IT?!"

Half the crowd screamed in anticipation, while others rooted for Zell to overcome, but nevertheless, they were feeding on Seifer's every word. Seifer knelt down before Zell and spoke low enough so every word reached Zell's ears only.

"See Chicken Wuss? What made you think you were a match for me, a commander of the Soldiers of Vánagandr? This isn't the Balamb Garden. There is no Squall fighting beside you— protecting you! No instructor Trepe to sweep in and save you! And to think, you actually tried to challenge me, as useless as you are…? I find it quite hilarious that you requested this match. Did you actually think you were going to win? Now I have no choice but to have you taste fire. To teach you that I am not an opponent to take lightly and how weak you truly are."

Seifer raised his right hand that was instantly immersed in flames from the Firaga spell he was casting and placed it a few inches from Zell's face.

"STOP! STOP NOW!" Shouted a booming voice from the arena loudspeakers. Zell turned his head slightly to see Squall,the referees, and a medic team run out on the arena floor.

The crowd began to boo in protest, screaming Seifer and Zell's name... Some wanting Seifer to finish his spell and others rooting for Zell to get up and finish the fight. Soon, the audience began fighting among themselves and the arena drowned in noise. Fists were flying, people started pushing and swearing at one another until large projection screens appeared in front of them, floating in the air. With everyone's attention drawn to it, President Laguna appeared on them, in high definition. His voice boomed and echoed from loudspeakers and the crowd cheered again, crying his name.

"Hey All! Sorry for the interruptions! I hope you're all enjoying the battle arena, designed for some of the greatest warriors across the land, to stretch their legs and fight for a good cause! A lot of destruction has happen around the world, earlier this year, and the proceeds for this event goes to the towns that can not afford —"

Seeing Squall run in on his match and the emergency broadcast message Laguna projected, Zell was angrier than ever. They're trying to stop this fight! he thought, blocking the spasmodic pain that fluttered all over him. He rather go down in flames than be rescued like this! Seifer's words echoed in his head over and over again, about him being weak and how Squall and the others needed to protect him...But...Was Seifer right? Was he weak, regardless, of all the SeeD training throughout the years? Was he a loser, who constantly needed his friends to save him? These were the thoughts that came to Zell's mind, as he saw Squall tackling Seifer to the ground.

It's not true! His thoughts raced in a panic, it's not true! IT'S NOT TRUE! Zell stood up and pushed the referees and medics that began to surround him with the last bit of strength he had left in his body. "Stop! I can finish this! I can finish this fight! Stop it! Don't stop this match! I'll hunt anyone down who will stop this match, I swear it!"

It took ten medics to hold him down, but eventually, his strength waned and he fell under the pressure, "Let go of me!"

"Quiet you!" Snapped a middle aged woman medic, who began injecting Zell with some type of pain killer sedative in his thigh, that made him instantly tired.

With his whole body numb, the pain gradually subsided, and Zell stared up at the sky, because there was nothing he could do now.

The woman medic looked down at Zell and shook her head with disbelief "It's a miracle you still had that much strength, in this state, but then again, you're a member of SeeD."

As his vision blurred and his consciousness fading, all he kept trying to say to the air…

"I…It's not true."

* * *

"Seifer! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Squall shouted, as he tackled Seifer to the ground. The both of them wrestled around, until the referees pulled them apart. Seifer, smiled and wiped the dirt from his charcoal-colored pants and casually raised his hand up to stop the referees from engaging further.

Squall retrieved his gunblade which he dropped in the scuffle and turned to the refs, "I'll handle him. Make sure Zell is taken care of and let the President know that I'll personally handle this matter until he calms the audience..."

The refs nodded and hurried in different directions following Squall's instructions.

Squall faced Seifer, murderously.

"There's no need for all that! Come on now. I was just having some fun. I wasn't gonna torch him, not yet, anyway" Seifer said laughing.

Squall drew his gunblade and took a defensive stand in front of Zell, while he was getting attended by the emergency medics. Squall pointed the tip of his blade towards Seifer.

"Oh, come on Squall! What the hell?!" Seifer laughed so hard he stumbled back, "Are you serious? You can't take a joke? I know our friendship hit some bumps on the road in the past… but we trained in the same Garden for years and you're drawing your weapon at me with such malicious intentions?"

"Hasn't stop me before." Squall said, monotonously, "And we were never friends, Seifer. Need I remind you that the 'bumps on the road' you mentioned a moment ago, were the many times you have tried to kill me and my friends with malicious intentions" Squall took a step forward.

"Oh, _that_?! Don't tell me you're still mad about that?!" Seifer raised his gunblade and slammed the tip of the blade into the ground. He reached in his back pocket and retrieved a small silver cigarette case, "It's not very mature of you to hold a grudge on such small, trivial matters like that!" He then grabbed a cigarette and placed it in his mouth and lit it with a flame that ignited on the tip of his index finger, "Get over it already."

"Seifer these events are not death matches" Squall said as he watched his old adversaries' movements carefully. "This is nothing more than a contest— a test of strength for warriors, held in good will. You were told this, when you and your men were invited to Esthar to participate. Right?"

Seifer quickly whipped the cigarette from his mouth, "_What_?! I was totally acting in good will! He wanted to fight me so I fought 'em; very fair and possibly square." Chuckling at his own words he brought the cigarette to his mouth and took a few drags, "You know, just like the saying."

"You butchered him!" Squall yelled, shaking, containing his anger.

"Excuse me! I fought him, he lost. The point of this 'test of strength' is that he must fight me with all he got and I fight him with all I got. Right? I was doing Chicken Wuss a favor. That last bit, with the fire, was to entertain the crowd! But if there is anyone to blame for Chicken Wuss' trip to the infirmary, it's his own. For not being strong enough."

"Seifer, what is this new power you have?" Squall finally asked. "I was watching your battle with Zell…How are you able to do—?"

For a moment, Seifer just smiled with traces of white smoke rolling off his lips. His eyes were darker than Squall remembered, fierce and menacing. But something was off, this was not the same Seifer he had known and fought against back when Ultimecia threaten the world with time compressing darkness, six months ago. Since then, Squall hadn't seen or heard of him. Then last month, he emerges as a 'commander' for this new 'Soldiers of Vánagandr 'organization. This group came on to the scene in Galbadia and has been taking work away from the Garden in that area.

"Geez Squall, whatever do you mean?"

At that moment a shadow appeared behind Seifer, which looked like an outline giant four legged animal, close to a wolf. The glowing yellow eyes from the shadow beast appeared on Seifer's, and both the beast and Seifer smiled in unison.

Then it suddenly vanished.

"You must mean the smoking?" Seifer said immediately after that, "I know it's a bad habit, but what the _hell_, right! We only live once."

Squall just stood there, stunned; "What has happened to you?"

Just then, a swarm of Esthar soldiers surrounded Seifer and Squall. Zell, was placed on a stretcher and heading towards the medical unit. The crowed of soldiers parted to let President Laguna Loire through with Ward and Kiros by his side.

Laguna smiled warmly at Squall then turned to Seifer,

"So, Seifer, Right?" Laguna scratched the back of his head in apprehensiveness, "I'm Laguna Loire, the President here...And I have to say: Man, you were impressive! But was a tad excessive. You see, well—Wow, you know, you're scary up close like this—you didn't seem so eerie and crazy from far! I gotta get those cameras checked to zoom in more!"

Ward, Kiros and Squall shook their heads in shame at Laguna's sophomoric statement, while Seifer just stared at them, dumbfounded. Kiros cleared his throat and walked in front of Laguna, "What our President is trying to say is that your reckless behavior in that last match could have caused a death. We had asked all participants to refrain from excessive violence. Saying this, you violated our rules. We have no choice but to remove, you and the other Soldiers of Vánagandr, from our festivities. Please, leave at once or force maybe used to remove you."

Seifer, smiled and just bowed to Kiros, "I'm oh _so_, very sorry. It shan't happen again. The last thing I would want is a problem with the infamous Esthar." Laughing, Seifer walked over to the group of men and one woman standing on the sidelines, all dressed in dark red coats of the Vánagandr.

Looking back Seifer shouted to Squall, "I'm not mad about Rinoa! She wasn't all that great in bed! You can have my sloppy seconds, anytime!"

Ward, Kiros, and Laguna held Squall back, as he was about to charge after him.

Seifer smiled and signal for his group to leave... and they all did.

They all exited the arena without a word…


End file.
